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Metro Station

In 2006 the mothers of Trace Cyrus and Mason Musso introduced them to each other on the set of Hannah Montana which stars Mason’s brother, Mitchel, and Trace’s sister, Miley. Sharing musical interests, they decided to form a band. Cyrus recruited Blake Healy from Synthetic Joy as a keyboardist, synthesist, and bassist. Cyrus remained the singer and the lead guitarist. Musso became the group’s main singer and rhythm guitarist. Metro Station soon gained the attention of drummer Anthony Improgo, who was later added as the band’s drummer, after the group released the song “Seventeen Forever”, on their MySpace Music website. Musso sang lead on the track. The group’s popularity on MySpace Music rew, and the band eventually topped the MySpace Music Unsigned Band’s charts. Metro Station was discovered by an intern working for Columbia Records’ Walking Eye program, after the intern discovered the band while looking through the MySpace Music charts and the group was signed shortly thereafter. In 2007, they released their self titled debut album. The album debuted at #189 on the U.S. Billboard 200, but reached a peak of #39 in June of 2008. As of September 2008, four singles have been released including “Seventeen Forever” and “Shake It”. Metro Station has sold approximately four hundred thousand copies in the United States thus far.

Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul was born in the San Fernando Valley on June 19, 1962. Paula Abdul began taking dance lessons at the age of eight and showed a natural talent. She attended Van Nuys High School, where she was a cheerleader and an honor student. At 15, she received a scholarship to a dance camp near Palm Springs, and in 1978 appeared in a low-budget Independent musical film, Junior High School. After working as a dancer and an acclaime choreographer she turned to singing and in the summerof 1988 released her debut album, Forever Your Girl. The album was on the Billboard charts for over sixty-two weeks before finally making it to number one. The album was eventually certified seven times Platinum in the US and sold 12 million worldwide. Paula Abdul has since released two more albums, Spellbound and Head Over Heels. In 1997, Paula Abdul co-wrote “Spinning Around” along with fellow American Idol judge, Kara DioGuardi; a dance-pop track intended to be the lead single off her new album. The album never materialized and “Spinning Around” was given to Kylie Minogue as a single. The song became highly successful and re-launched Minogue’s career, as it was intended to do for Abdul, and reached #1 in numerous countries. She is currently a judge on the hit show American Idol.

New Kids On The Block

New Kids on the Block was assembled in Boston in 1984 by producer Maurice Starr. It’s members consist of Donnie Wahlberg, Danny Wood, Joey McIntyre, Jordan Knight and Jonathan Knight. In 1986, New Kids on the Block released their self titled debut album through Columbia Records. The first single, “Be My Girl” received minor airplay around the group’s native Boston, but failed to capture nationwide attention. In 1988 they released their second album, Hangin’ Tough. Though initial sales were weak, it would go on to sell twelve million copies by the end of 1989. New Kids on the Block would then go on to release three more albums; Step by Step, Face the Music and The Block. New Kids on the Block went on tour to support the album Face The Music, playing smaller venues such as clubs and theaters, as opposed to the arenas and stadiums they were once accustomed to. After experiencing increased panic attacks and anxiety, Jonathan Knight left the band. Shortly thereafter, the remaining four decided to officially disband the group. After the group’s split, most of the group members started families and began to venture into other avenues. Jonathan Knight and Danny Wood maintained low profiles, while the other three continued their careers individually.

Jordin Sparks

Jordin Sparks was born on December 22, 1989 in Phoenix, Arizona to Jodi Weidmann and former NFL defensive back Phillippi Sparks. Before appearing on American Idol, Sparks participated in and won such talent competitions as Sprite Rising Star, Gospel Music Association GMA Academy, The Proof Is In The Pudding Contest, NBC/PAX America’s Most Talented Kids and the Colgate Country Showdown. In the summer of 2006, Sparks auditioned twice for American Idol once in Los Angeles, CA (only auditioned for producers) and again in Seattle, Washington. On May 23, 2007, Sparks was crowned the winner of the sixth season of American Idol having never been in the bottom three. She remains the youngest winner in American Idol history. After her stint on American Idol, Jordin Sparks made appearance on television shows such as The View. The Today Show and Live with Regis and Kelly. On November 20, 2007 she released her self titled debut through Jive Records. It has produced four top twenty singles and sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide. Jordin Sparks is currently working on her second album entitled “Battlefield”.It has a tentative release date of July 2009. The first single is also called “Battlefield” and was released in North America on May 12, 2009 with further releases scheduled in June 2009.